


Hyrule’s Protectors

by Bookdragon1013



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Fighting, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Wild (Linked Universe) is Babey, Wild (Linked Universe) is a Little Shit, sassyness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-22 04:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30033192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookdragon1013/pseuds/Bookdragon1013
Summary: A mysterious hero has arrived, wielding the Triforce of both Courage AND Wisdom. The Chain is immediately interested—but deep shadows plague this prickly girl.Adalina is less than interested with these “Heroes of Courage.” But how long can she resist, when they seem so...hopelessly idiotic?
Relationships: Everyone & Everyone, Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe), Original Female Character & Everyone, Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I’m back again with another work, and it’s something I haven’t tried before—we have developed an OC, folks!   
> This was written with a friend of mine, shoutout to her, but she refuses to get an AO3 account! Oh well.   
> Tell me what you thought of this in the comments! This first one is just the prologue for some worldbuilding but the next chap is where its at ;)

Hyrule’s history is one of bloodshed and war, full of a repeated cycle: 

The wielder of the Triforce of Power, rearing for dominance over Hyrule. 

The wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, the Princess, ready to protect the claim on Hyrule’s throne. 

And the wielder of the Triforce of Courage, the Hero, called to protect the kingdom and defeat any threats to Hyrule. 

This cycle continued for eons, for so long that history forgot how it first started. It was simply the way the world worked. 

But bearer of the Triforce of Power, with each cycle, had become increasingly difficult to defeat. 

Until the Hero was killed, with no way of coming back, leaving the Princess to fight alone. In his dying breath, the Hero passed on the Triforce of Courage to the Princess in a desperate act, giving her two pieces of the Triforce. With this power, she defeated the monster and saved Hyrule. 

The next cycle came, but this time the Princess bore the mark of both Wisdom  _ and  _ Courage. The Princess was the Hero, and the Hero was the Princess. 

The monster Ganon returned once again as the King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf. He brought with him armies of darkness and Malice. Hyrule once again rose to fight, and the Princess, the Hero, went to an ancient grove to pull the Master Sword. 

She fought Ganon and won, but at a devastating cost. The ancient, sacred Sword of Evil’s Bane, was destroyed. 

After that, the land of Hyrule flourished once more. The Sheikah created marvels that rivaled those of an ancient era, and they built a society unlike anything Hyrule had seen before. 

When the expected return of Ganon came near, the kingdom waited in anticipation for the marks of the Triforce to appear on the Princess’ hand, but they never came. Instead, a second Princess was born, the golden marks of Wisdom and Courage shining bright on either hand.


	2. Who TF is She?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chain meets Ada.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Prologue was short, wasn’t it? Well, welcome to the Mammoth Chapter! It’s somewhere around 5k words. Sit back, grab some water, and strap in for the ride of your lives.

Wild’s breathing was sharp and ragged, his pulse thundering and his panicked heart pounding against his ribcage. He notched another arrow, bow groaning and arms aching, letting it fly, only to replace it with another arrow and repeat the process. There were monsters  _ everywhere,  _ swarming the cramped entrance to the Forgotten Temple. 

How had it come to this? 

The battle had been going fine. It was a small camp of monsters, and Time had decided to clear them out before they took care of the  _ many  _ Guardians hidden within the ancient ruins tucked away at the end of a canyon. But then a dark portal tore through the air, dropping  _ dozens  _ of infected monsters into the small space. They were all taken off guard. 

A snarling bokoblin threw itself at Wild, frothing at the mouth with crazed eyes. Wild frantically switched out his bow for a Knight’s Broadsword. He speared the bokoblin through the chest, spraying black blood, and pulled out the blade with a wet  _ squelch  _ to block a wild swing from a moblin. His legs nearly buckled as he took the blow. Goddess, these infected monsters were so strong. 

And Wild was so, so tired. 

“We might have to pull back!” Warriors shouted as he fended off attacks from several bokoblins. 

“To  _ where? _ ” Legend fired back. “We’re pinned on both sides!” 

“I don’t know, but we sure as hell aren’t going to win this fight!” 

“Boys, focus!” Time snapped. “We can’t get distracted; any injuries could mean death.” 

Wild narrowly avoided the jab of a spear, then returned with an attack of his own, landing blows on two bokoblins. In the corner of his vision he could see Twilight helping Four and Wind with a pair of moblins to his left. 

He took a deep breath, spending precious time to make sure no one else was close to him, then extended his hand. Somehow, the  _ snap  _ of his fingers rang through the din of battle, and thunder split the sky. 

Lightning came down in a bright flash, electrocuting the monsters surrounding him. Their shrieks echoed in his ears as they convulsed around Wild.  _ Thank you, Urbosa,  _ he thought. He took the opportunity to land killing blows to most of them. 

With that over, he turned back to the others and cursed silently. 

How were there so many monsters? It just didn’t make sense. 

A scream snatched up Wild’s attention, his head snapping up to the sound. He was met with the sight of Wind and Four, thrown to the side by a moblin’s arm, and Twilight, pressed up against the canyon wall with nowhere to go. The moblin bore down on the hero, raising its club to land a devastating blow. 

_ Twilight.  _

There was a fraction of a moment where all Wild could do was feel the breath leave him and feel every muscle in his body freeze. If Twilight was hurt—

He exploded into motion, streaking past monsters and dashing in front of Twilight, bringing up his arms, prepared to take the blow. 

Mipha’s Grace would save him, right? 

He could hear Twilight scream his name, but it was too late now, and Wild just smiled because Twilight would be okay. 

The blow never came. 

He heard a roar from the moblin, and he peered past his raised arms to see a dagger protruding from the moblin's left eye. The beast groaned, then fell back onto the ground with a heavy  _ thump.  _

What was  _ that?  _

White electricity sparked off the blade’s skull-carved handle. Wild looked up from the moblin to a cloaked figure standing with their arm outstretched. Wild looked at the others in bewilderment. 

Who in Hylia’s name was this? 

The cloaked figure straightened. Striding to the center of the clearing, even the moblins stopped to look at this shadowy figure.

The figure stopped in the middle of the clearing. They removed their hood revealing a...young woman? 

She glanced around, examining the situation. Staring at the hero's, she calmly said, "You should duck, I mean, unless you want to die in the next five seconds."

Suddenly her eyes flashed white, so quick it seemed like a trick of the light, and Wild made his choice.

He flattened himself to the ground, pulling Twilight with him.

The girl raised her hands, and white energy flew from them, wrapping around the nearest monsters, raising them off the ground. 

They clawed at their necks, but to no avail.

Wild looked around and saw that the other heroes were on the floor also, staring at the girl in awe and a little bit of wariness.

The girl had all the monsters raised up off the ground. Suddenly, their necks snapped.

The energy faded and their bodies crumpled to the ground. 

The girl then glanced around, seeing if anyone had been spared from her wrath. When she was satisfied none remained, the girl looked down at the Heroes of Courage flattened to the ground, and smirked. 

“You’re welcome,” she said. 

They just stared.

She rolled her eyes, then put two fingers on her mouth and whistled. A doe appeared, standing at the ready.

Winking at the Hero's starting to stand, she vaulted on her deer and rode away, leaving the Hero's speechless.

“What in Hylia’s  _ name?”  _ Twilight breathed from beside Wild. 

“Who the hell was that?” Legend demanded. Of course, no one had an answer. 

“Should we...follow her?” Hyrule asked. 

“No. She just saved our lives,” Time decided. “We can let her off the hook for now. But this definitely calls for investigation.” 

Wild looked at the monster remains strewn across the battlefield, thrown off by the sudden quiet that followed the end of a battle. He’d never seen anything like what that girl did. She took out those monsters like they were nothing but annoying flies. 

They eventually pulled out of their shocked daze and went into their normal routine after a battle, checking for injuries and taking stock of their supplies. Wild stuck close to Twilight the entire time, somehow convinced the danger wasn’t gone and his mentor was still in danger. 

“Cub, I’m fine,” Twi eventually snapped, exasperated. Wild flinched back, taking a few steps away from the other hero. Twilight immediately apologized, guilt clear on his face.  _ ‘It’s fine,’  _ Wild signed, averting his gaze. He hated that the others had to walk on eggshells around him, but he didn’t know how to be... _ normal.  _

They finished up treating injuries and decided to head towards Serenne Stable. The trip took about a day, and they were exhausted. They were low on supplies and getting out of the canyon was a lot of work. 

Wild walked up to the stable manager to rent several beds for the night, only to find that someone had beat him to it. 

Someone who wore a cloak and bore the same smirk she had when she left them in the Forgotten Temple. 

Wild examined her, now that she was standing next to him at the counter. Her cloak wasn't black, instead, it was a dark purple. Royal purple. Her eyes were emerald green, like Flora, and her blood red lips were framed by softly curled black hair. Her porcelain skin gave her an air of innocence, however, Wild knew better than to believe that.

She finished purchasing a bed and a bag of feed, then returned his gaze. "Can I help you?" she calmly said, grabbing the bag of feed and pushing past Wild and the other heroes.

They started after her. Then glanced at each other.

"I guess we  _ didn’t _ need to follow her," Hyrule said. 

****

Adalina was done with men. Today it was those idiots fighting those monsters—who fights in a closed space? Although it was funny to see them get saved by her, she never expected to see them again. 

Yet when she was renting a bed, they clearly had the same idea. The little one with a hood hiding his face recognized her first. She ignored him, of course.

She sighed, leading her deer Linnia into an empty stall, then stepped inside of the odd circular building. She was surprised to find a lack of walls and beds pushed up against the curved walls. 

Just as she was about to scoff in disdain, a voice rang through the air.

“You're the girl who saved us in the Forgotten Temple, aren't you?”

She turned around to see the group of warriors standing at the entrance.

She shrugged, examining the group. Obviously warriors, trained for battle. They were of varying ages. One couldn’t be older than 13. 

“You know, it’s rude to ignore people,” one of them drawled. Her gaze snapped to his. He wore a blue scarf and she could see chainmail glinting from underneath his tunic. She narrowed her eyes at him.  _ Rude, huh? I’ll show you rude,  _ she thought. 

“Yes, yes. Ignoring people is rude. But you guys aren’t nearly worth my time.”

“We didn’t come here to fight. All we wanted to do was say thank you,” another cut in before Blue-Scarf could retort. This one wore full body armor and had curious tattoos marking his face. He seemed to be the oldest, radiating authority. His sharp glare had Blue-Scarf backing off immediately. 

“Well, I suppose I have nothing better to do. What are your names?"

“It’s complicated, but all our names are Link. I go by Time instead,” the oldest stated. 

“Warriors,” Blue-Scarf smirked.

A soft-looking one with a white cape raised his hand. “Hello, I’m Sky,” he said warmly. Ada was reminded of someone from her past, and despite her best efforts, the memory of it made her smile a little. 

“My name is Hyrule,” a boy with fluffy brown hair spoke up. Ada raised an eyebrow. Sharing the name of the kingdom was an odd choice. 

“Legend,” one in a red tunic and sour expression scowled. 

“I’m Wind!” The youngest boy grinned, practically  _ oozing  _ energeticness. 

“Four,” the shortest of the group said. His tunic was a strange mismash of colors: Green, blue, red, and violet. 

“Twilight.” Ada’s gaze traveled from the shortest to one of the tallest. His dirty blonde hair hung over weird markings on his forehead. His shoulders held a heavy black wolf pelt. Close to him was the boy she had saved before, the one in the hood.

He was small, among the youngest of the group. Though his face was cast in shadow from the hood, she caught sight of wide blue eyes. The boy lifted his hands and surprised Ada by fingerspelling his name. 

_ ‘W-I-L-D.’  _

Ada lifted her own hands. For some reason, she felt her face softening and the urge to be  _ nice  _ to this boy.  _ ‘Hello Wild. I am A-D-A-L-I-N-A,’  _ she signed back. 

The tall one—Twilight?—stepped forward. "You can sign?" he asked. Ada shrugged, hardening her face again. 

“I was forced to learn a lot of skills. Sign language was one of those things,” she replied. 

She caught sight of a merchant outside.  _ Perfect.  _ She needed supplies, and maybe she could ask where she was. Because Ada had  _ no  _ idea. One moment, she had been taking her usual morning ride through the woods with Linnia, and the next she was pulled into a void-like... _ thing,  _ and then Ada was dropped into wherever this place was. 

"Now if you'll excuse me," she shoved past Warriors to head for the merchant, but a bright golden glow blinded Ada before she could take another step. She heard a collective intake of air from everyone around her. 

_...oh, no.  _

The Triforce of Courage was shining on the back of her right hand, visible for all to see. Oddly, Wisdom wasn’t glowing on her left hand. Ada looked up from her hand, panicked, only to be struck dumb by the sight of a similar glow coming from Warriors’ hand. 

_ What the— _

Ada locked eyes with Warriors, mirror expressions of shock on their faces. 

“You’re a Hero of Courage,” he breathed. 

“I’m a—“ Ada cut herself off. Hero of Courage was an  _ old  _ term. The last it had been used was before the Wielder of Wisdom and Courage became one person. Now, Ada was what Hyrule called a Protector. 

“Nevermind what  _ I  _ am, what in Hylia’s name are  _ you?”  _ she demanded. 

“A Hero of Courage, same as you,” Warriors replied. 

“We’re  _ all  _ Heroes of Courage.” Ada turned to the sound of Sky’s voice. He was pulling the sword from his back, a magnificent blade sheathed in a royal purple and gold sheath. 

“This is the Master Sword. Do you recognize it?” he asked, holding it out to her. 

“The Master Sword?” Ada asked in a whisper. “But—but that was destroyed millennia ago.” 

Sky paled. “It...what?” he asked. “What did you say?” 

Ada swallowed. “The Master Sword was destroyed in the act of sealing Ganon away, when he last returned some five thousand years ago. Everyone knows this.” 

She narrowed her eyes even as a cold wash of fear raised goosebumps on her arms. “Why don’t you know this?” Ada asked. “And even more important,  _ how do you have that blade?” _

“...When are we?” Ada asked into the silence. If she had somehow time traveled—no, she had sworn never again… 

“I think we should explain some things,” Sky eventually said. His face was still pale from learning about the Master Sword’s demise.

They sat down at one of the circular tables to the side of the room, although several chose to stand. Namely Wild, who stood behind Twilight. Those two seemed to have quite the special bond. 

Adalina sat down, kicking her legs on the table revealing black leggings and high heeled, stiletto boots. They must have been about 7 inches high and razor thin.

She noticed them staring at her shoes, probably impressed at her being able to kill, and vault on a deer in heels.

She surveyed the group again, then sighed. "Alright, start explaining, Links."

Sky cringed, "Can you use our nicknames? It'll be less confusing."

Ada narrowed her eyes in confusion, "But your names are Link. But if I'm to address you as a whole I need a nickname. Like a boy band!"

She brightened up, "How about….The Chain!" 

This was met with silence.

"Ya know, because you are a bunch of Links, and links make up a chain?!"

Time sighed. Warriors looked scandalized, which made Ada smirk. 

“I mean...it’s not a  _ terrible _ name,” Hyrule offered. Ada’s smirk grew. 

“See, he has some sense,” she said. Never mind that he looked like a doe-eyed twelve year old. “Alright, Chain, start explaining.”

Legend groaned. “I swear to Hylia, if she calls us that  _ one more time— _ “ 

He was cut short with a light smack upside the head from Twilight. Legend scowled at the other hero, but fell silent. 

“Alright,” Sky said, running a hand over the Master Sword’s sheath. “Time, do you want to start, or should I?” 

Adalina flicked her gaze to the oldest, and she could have  _ sworn  _ that was an amused expression that flashed over his face. “By all means, take it away,” Time said. Sky pursed his lips, but the sigh slipped past them anyways. 

She raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay. This is…going to take a while. But you need to know that every word I speak is the truth. I swear by the Golden Goddesses that I will not speak a single lie,” Sky said with such seriousness that Ada found it hard to bring herself to be skeptical. 

Then the hero launched into one of the most outrageous stories Ada had heard in a long while. 

Eventually Sky fell silent, and everyone seemed to hold their breath in anticipation of what she would say. 

Well, since it seemed to be so important, Ada couldn’t help herself. She yawned, leaning back in her chair and watched everyone’s shocked expressions with amusement.

“What, did you think I was going to be surprised or something?” she asked. “You should know it’s not the craziest thing I’ve heard. I also have a bit of experience with time travel, though I will admit this is an odd form of it.” 

After a shocked silence, Four blurted out, “Oh thank Hylia we didn’t have to go through the disaster Wild’s explanation was.” 

Legend and Warriors burst out laughing, but when they realized both of them were laughing at the same time they stopped abruptly to glare. 

_...ookay, testosterone levels have risen,  _ Ada thought. 

She glanced at Wild, who was glaring at Four through his hood. She imagined his face to be a bright red, poor thing. Ada wondered just what happened for it to have such a reputation. Sky must have somehow known what she was thinking, because he took the liberty to explain. 

“After we told Wild, he thought the Master Sword was a fake and disappeared for hours. We didn’t find him until he went to pray to the Goddess Hylia for guidance.” 

Ada felt a flicker of surprise. She hadn’t thought the boy to be the religious type, despite having exchanged barely two sentences with him. 

They conversed for a little longer, but the polite talk was brought to a halt when the youngest, Wind, asked an unassuming question. 

“Can you tell us more about yourself?” 

Ada started a little, but reluctantly nodded. "Not much to say. The kingdom thought the first born daughter was to have the marks of both Courage and Wisdom. However, I was gifted them instead. My sister was always jealous of the gifts I possessed, but I see them as a curse." 

“Wait, wait,” Time interrupted, holding up a hand. “Did you...did you say you have both the Triforce of Wisdom  _ and  _ Triforce of Courage?” 

“...yes?” Ada said, realizing too late what she had missed. 

These Heroes of Courage...were just that. They didn’t have the Triforce of Wisdom. 

A chorus of curses rose from the group, namely from Wind and Legend. “How is that even  _ possible?”  _ Four asked, his eyes wide. Ada frowned at a flash of purple within the silver irises. That was an odd trick of the light. 

“This is—this is new,” Twilight said, running a hand through his hair. Both Time and Sky could only stare in shock at her. 

Ada rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes. I'm special, get used to it. Now can I finish?" she snapped, enjoying the taken aback looks on their faces.

"Great. Anyway, I was trained from only the very best masters to be able to defeat Ganon whenever he comes around. My sister always tried to sabotage me. Stealing my weapons, 'accidently' hitting me during lessons. I learned to cope. But suddenly, I wound up here. Oh, how life changes." she said with a dramatic sigh.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off to bed so I can journey at dawn tomorrow to find a way back to my time. Gentlemen, Warriors." With one last smirk, she kicked her legs off the table and walked away. 

She didn't turn back to watch their reactions. In all honesty, Adalina  _ was  _ quite tired. It had been a long day. 

So she shrugged off her cloak and laid down in the bed farthest from the other Heroes of Courage, closing her eyes to fall into a restless sleep.

The nightmares came, like they always did. Of a schoolhouse, of learning to fight. Being so proud of her new skills, only to be whipped by her father for not being good enough, her mother and sister standing by. She screamed and begged, but to no avail. Fast forward 3 years, to an older girl with auburn hair, tearing her dress to shreds right before a social event. But her being punished by her father, not her sister.

The last scene was her father, standing over her with the blood stained whip, ‘You will never be good enough.’ he said as the whip came down again and again. Her sister then stepped forward, testing her dress saying, 'You will never be as important as me. You are lucky to be born at all.' Lastly, her mother stepped forward, she stared down in disappointment, 'Your powers should have been your sister's.' 

Adalina woke in a cold sweat with a gasp. She sat up, fingers feeling under her shirt, feeling the horrendous marks made from the whip.

Sliding out of bed silently, she grabbed her cloak before slipping out of the tent.

She walked outside, breathing in the fresh air. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to go somewhere.

_ Maybe somewhere by a stream, to clear my head. _

She followed the sound of running water, leading her to a small stream. 

Ada slid off her boots, before walking into the water, letting the chill clear her head.

The memories she can't forget, the nightmares that come more frequently now. 

She pulled her phone from her pocket and popped in her earbuds, selecting some music to play. Ada let the sounds pull her from the claws of fear still clinging to her, humming quietly. The river’s sandy bank was soft against her feet and the icy water swirled around her ankles.

A twig snapped behind her and she started up, spinning around, ready to fight.

A figure approached, their hood up, covering their face.

"Show yourself!" Ada said forcefully, white balls of energy forming in her hands. 

The figure stepped into the moonlight, and lifted their hood revealing….Wild? It was hard to make out his features; the night served as just a good hood.

Ada lowered her hands, "Oh. What are  _ you  _ doing here?" she asked in surprise.

Wild sat down on the riverbank, right by where she was sitting. Ada raised her eyebrows, but sat down next to him.

She took an earbud out and offered it to him, "Music?" she asked.

Wild stared at the earbud in confusion. "Oh right," Ada said in realization, "You don't know what this is."

"If you put it in your ear, music is played. You can change it depending on what it's connected to. See, it's connected into my phone." she said, tapping the earbud in her ear.

Wild nodded, taking the earbud from her. He placed it in his ear and his eyes flared in surprise.

Ada smiled a little, "Cool right?"

Wild nodded again. 

Ada looked at the stream, letting the presence of another person wipe away her fear, for a moment at least.

She was just getting her bearings, realizing what she was doing, when Wild spoke.  _ Spoke!  _

"Why are you out here Ada?"

Her head jerked to the side, convinced she was hearing things. "Did you just…"

He nodded, but a hand went up to rub his neck as if it hurt. His voice was raspy and slow, but there was an unmistakable accent that was, quite frankly,  _ adorable.  _

“Well, same as you, I think. Couldn’t sleep,” she answered. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, so she peered closer at Wild’s face. He had really long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, large blue eyes, and...there were some odd contortions on his face…

Ada’s eyes widened and her stomach churned sickeningly when she realized that those were  _ scars _ . Horrible scars that twisted up the left side of Wild’s face and trailed down his neck, disappearing under his tunic. Ada felt nauseous. The boy couldn’t be older than sixteen, and those scars looked...old. 

Who would do this to a  _ child?  _

Wild must have noticed her staring, because he shrunk back and flipped his hood up. 

She reached out and grabbed his wrist, halting his movement. Wild flinched at the contact.

"It's ok. I have scars too." she said, letting go of his wrist and reaching to lift up her shirt, revealing the sickening whip marks etched into her skin.

Wild's eyes widened, but a small smile touched his lips. “I’ve got you beat,” he rasped, unclasping his hood and pulling his tunic over his head. 

Ada's mouth fell open. The boy had scars marring his entire torso, mutilated skin stretched over his small body. It was terrible—how had he survived this? But Ada forced a smile and a laugh. She lifted her hands in surrender. “You got me there,” she said. 

"May I ask how you got them?" she asked somewhat hesitantly. She knew about the trauma behind most scars. 

Wild’s eyes shuttered and a tremor ran through him. “It’s fine, you don’t have to…” Ada trailed off as an idea came to her. 

“How about this: a story for a story. I’ll tell you how I got my scars, and you can tell me how you got yours.” 

Wild nodded, motioning for her to go first.

Ada nodded, showing a ugly looking rip in her left side. 

"See this? I got it on my first mission as Protector. A goon stabbed me almost straight through. The blade was poisoned too. Had to stick a white hot pocket through it to get the poison out." she said, lightly touching it, wincing at the memory.

Wild made a face. "That must have hurt when they cleaned it." he rasped quietly.

Adalina laughed dryly, "They? I did it myself."

Wild look shook. "You cleaned it yourself?!" he said a little stronger, his voice gaining strength.

She nodded, "Your turn." Wild grinned, "I have way more scars than you, so how about you tell me the story of your whip marks." 

****** 

He knew that it was inconsiderate to ask about the whip marks but... he had to know. It was only fair, if she wanted to know how he got  _ his  _ scars. His stomach churned just thinking about it. 

Ada tensed up, and he could almost see her closing herself off, to the way she was when he first saw her take down those monsters. 

He pulled out his puppy eyes, and while they weren’t as convincing as Wind’s, they were still enough to make Ada slump in defeat. “Alright, fine, but it isn‘t a pretty story,” she said quietly.

"When I was born, I had the marks of both Wisdom and Courage. However, I was the second born. My sister was always jealous of me, because she was the first born and it was supposed to be her with the marks. My father disliked me for not being the hero he wanted. He pushed me away and had me train until I was 10. I was bright, so by 10 I had almost mastered every type of weapon. My father sent for me on my tenth birthday. He wanted to see what I had accomplished. My mother and sister were there also, sitting upon golden thrones. I will never forget that day. I showed my skills but my father was still not satisfied. He asked me why I hadn't mastered every skill yet. I replied that I was almost there, and had made remarkable progress. He snapped back that my sister would have made a better hero, and that I was a disappointment to the kingdom. He then whipped me twenty-five times, for all my failures. My sister egged him on, but my mother. My mother stood by and did nothing. She just watched. I blacked out after the 15th strike. I woke up in the hospital with bloody streaks carved into my back. The nurses said it was a miracle I survived with all the blood loss. I say it was a curse. I kept learning, trying to become good enough for my father but it's never enough and never will be." 

Wild dropped his gaze and tried to process that. That...that was  _ horrible _ . 

Ada crossed her arms, her face a stone wall, staring at the creek with her mind somewhere far away. Wild absently rubbed his neck to where his scars were aching. They had been acting up all day, and talking to Ada had done nothing to help that. Wild considered asking for a red potion later, but dismissed the idea. They were low enough on supplies as it was. 

“Your turn,” Ada said, pulling him from his thoughts. Her voice was cold, but he could hear the faintest curiosity in it. 

_ ‘My scars are hurting, so I am going to sign, is that okay?’  _ Wild asked. A flicker of something crossed Ada’s expression, but he couldn’t place the emotion. "Sure,” Ada replied. Wild sighed, taking a moment to think of how much he wanted to tell her. His story was a lot, so he’d give her the heavily abridged version. 

_ ‘I was on the run with Princess Zelda, or as we call her, Flora. I’m her personal knight, by the way. We were just trying to stay alive, because everyone else was—‘  _ His hands paused and he decided to skip over that part.  _ ‘There was an army of Guardians chasing us. Ganon had taken control of them...right, you don’t know what a Guardian is.’  _ He pulled out his Sheikah Slate and selected a picture from his album, extending his arm to show Ada. Her eyes widened and she said, “Those don’t look too friendly.” 

_ That is the understatement of the year,  _ Wild thought with a tinge of bitterness. 

_ ‘I had to protect Flora. If she died then it was all over. So I took laser after laser for her...it was really painful, but I did it. Until my body couldn’t take any more. Her sealing powers awakened, but by then…’  _

He trailed off and gestured to his face. He could hear Flora’s terrified screams in his ears, could feel his scars burn with the memory of his death 100 years ago. 

Ada looked shaken, "So what happened then?" she asked in a whisper, as though afraid to break the silence. 

Wild pulled at his hair, the decision warring within him. He didn’t know how much to tell her.  _ Should  _ he tell her? Ada was nice, despite her prickly exterior, and Wild liked her. But...he didn’t feel ready to share something like this. 

_ ‘Flora went to hold Ganon off on her own, and I shouldn’t be alive,’  _ he signed, and left it at that. 

He glanced at the sky, which was getting lighter as the sun peeked out from below the horizon.  _ ‘We should probably head back,’  _ he signed with a little reluctance. 

“Lets just watch the sunrise.” Ada said. Wild shrugged and nodded. 

They sat quietly, watching the glorious sun rise. Wild looked over at her, to see her deep in thought.

Sadly, it didn't last. Warriors and Hyrule came barging in, shouting to the others that they found them.

He saw Ada jump, then turn red and stand up quickly.

Warriors and Hyrule looked startled to see her as well. 

"I really should be going." she said, gathering her things and starting to leave.

The others burst in, looking startled at the sight of her. Twilight walked over to Wild, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Adalina gave them all a tight lipped smile before slipping away into the woods.

******

Stupid. She was so  _ stupid _ . 

Walking away from the stares, Ada silently yelled at herself. Why would she open up to that boy? 

She slowed in a lush clearing, sitting down on the ground. She realized that she forgot her earbud.

Swearing, she stood up and popped in the remaining earbud. 

Turning her music volume up high, she closed her eyes and began to practice. 

It was a dance, twisting in and out of complicated maneuvers with her twin blades. Ada nimbly spun and leaped to the beat of the music, white electricity crackling over her knuckles and flowing down to spark off the tips of her weapons. The familiar motions were comforting, letting Adalina clear her head for a moment. 

That is, until the Chain found her  _ again.  _

It was starting to get on her nerves. 

Ada came to an abrupt stop, yanking out her earbud and snarling, “What in  _ Hylia’s name  _ do you want? Leave me alone!” 

There was still electricity flowing up and down her blades and hands, and with the anger plain on her face, Ada assumed she must have been quite intimidating. But none of the heroes batted an eye. 

“Look. Hylia sent you here too, and so you’re joining us on whatever this quest is,” Legend snapped. “You don’t have a choice, and you won’t have much fun when you switch eras on your own. It's safer to be with a group.”

“I can handle things on my own, thank you,” Ada said, crossing her arms. 

“That electricity sure gives that statement credibility," Twilight said, watching her swords apprehensively.

Ada grinned back, her smile feral and untamed. "Let me assure you, I'm not one to be your enemy, but I sure as hell aren't going to be your friend."

The group took a step back.

“Maybe you don’t need us, but we need you,” Four stated. 

Ada raised an eyebrow. “You’re obviously very powerful. We could use your skills. Plus, you have  _ two  _ pieces of the Triforce, while we only have one each,” Four explained. “That makes you  _ much  _ more powerful than us.” 

“Hold on, that’s an exaggeration—“ Warriors began, but was silenced by his fellow heroes. 

“So, will you help us? We  _ need  _ you.” 

_ We need you.  _

Ada grinned. She couldn’t put down an opportunity to show off, and besides, helping some poor, helpless heroes never hurt. 

"Honey’s, you've got yourself a deal," she smirked, sliding her swords back into their sheaths. 

The looks on their faces were priceless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! That was fun, wasn’t it? Please leave comments, I love hearing what you guys think! (Constructive criticism is welcome as well!) Kudos are appreciated too!

**Author's Note:**

> Ty for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated~


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